Return of the Jedi Master
by BatuuSmuggler
Summary: When Rey offers the lightsaber to Master Luke Skywalker, she doesn't expect to be trained in the oldest Jedi Temple in the galaxy...or to find out who she is. (A different take on "The Last Jedi.")
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Rey clutched the Jedi weapon in her hand, offering it to the man who stood in front of her, trying to keep her hands from shaking.

He looked at it, then looked at her.

His piercing blue eyes searched her, but he did not move.

Even the breeze across the Ahch-To hilltop stilled, as though the steps and rock formations around them were holding their breaths.

Rey was holding her breath, too.

Stories had been told around the warming firepods on the Niimu outpost, when stars scattered across the night sky like white sand and Unkar was away. That was always when the scavengers of Jakku gathered to feast upon words and hope. Hushed tales from the older scavengers, who spoke of the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, who helped lead the Rebellion against the Empire, and his friends, Han Solo, Chewbacca the Wookiee, Princess Leia, and then-whispered so quietly Rey would have to lean forward to hear-_The Force_. Rey's heart always skipped a beat when she heard those words. They said, _they said,_ if you listened and focused and _dared _to believe in it enough, you could almost _feel_ it.

Now, looking into the piercing blue eyes of the Jedi Master, Rey was certain she felt it. It was like an aura around him, tugging her almost magnetically, and Rey half-expected the light saber she to slip from her fingers and into his.

It did not. Rey continued to hold it out to him, and, when he did not respond, she brandished the weapon and foolishly filled the silence with words:

"I'm-I'm from the Resistance," Rey stammered. "We've been searching for you everywhere! You've got to come back. The First Order-they've destroyed Senate. They're taking over again! We need a Jedi to lead us. We need your help!"

The words finished at a verbal stumble, and Rey flushed, feeling stupid. This was _Luke Skywalker_. And who in the world was she? She was a...a _nothing_. A knot formed in Rey's throat.

As though the Jedi Master could discern her thoughts, he spoke at last:

"Who are you?" he said.

"Nobody," Rey muttered, suddenly wishing she were in the furthest, darkest part of the galaxy.

"Now," said the Jedi Master, frowning. "What kind of talk is that? Nobody's _nobody._"

Rey swallowed and turned her eyes down to the lightsaber, still clutched in her hand. Before she could say anything more, however, cheery little _chirps_ and _beeps _echoed up the long staircase, and Rey who'd become acquainted with the astromech droid on the journey through hyperspace, immediately recognized it as R2-D2. The _thonk-clunks_ that accompanied the chirps made it clear that R2-D2 was making his way up the stone stairs.

The Jedi Master's face lit up like a torch.

"Artoo?" he said.

In a moment, he had leapt past Rey with surprising dexterity and was bounding down the stairs three at the time. Rey, still clutching the lightsaber, hurried down after him.

"Artoo!" said the Jedi Master, leaping down the last bit of step to the droid who was hobbling side-to-side and beeping with excitement. The Jedi fell to his knees right there on the steps, and pressed his forehead to R2's dome. Rey couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying.

"Artoo," he said. "Artoo."

The droid gave a long, wistful _meep_.

Rey didn't want to interrupt this moment. She couldn't. It almost felt...sacred.

After a few long moments,, the Jedi Master rose to his feet and looked beyond the droid, the staircase, and the mossy stone peaks to where the Millenium Falcon stood, a stark silver against the green. Rey had gotten to know the ship in the past few weeks; the finicky, hand-wired system, the sensitive maneuvering it handled, the exterior pocked with burn marks from previous battles, the musty smell of Jakku sand, permeating all the passages. And the memory of Han Solo. That memory made Rey's throat tighten.

It was clear, from the way Luke Skywalker looked at the Falcon, that Rey was not the only one who felt deep emotion when she saw that ship. Luke Skywalker and Han Solo-they had been great friends. Hadn't _the _Han Solo even said so?

Han Solo. Kylo Ren. The searing, blistering red of a jagged lightsaber blade...

_Oh, no_, Rey thought, her face flushing. _He doesn't know. I'll have to tell him_. _Wonderful..._

Before Rey could even even open her mouth, however, Luke Skywalker was already down the rest of the steps and to the ship.

It was hard for Rey to sort through her emotions, watching the great Luke Skywalker-who was so noble and stately in all the stories-jubilantly embrace Chewbacca with a _You old walking carpet! How are ya? Been a long time!_, all the while the Wookie crying aloud in joyful _Kashyyyk_ growls, and board the Falcon with a leap.

_You old walking carpet?_ Was that allowed? Rey felt confused at this, and his cheerful demeanor (shouldn't a Jedi Master be solemn?), and anxious that he would ask her where Han Solo was (surely he was wondering), and even a little hurt that he hadn't taken the lightsaber or asked her anything besides _Who are you?_ He could have asked a thousand things but _Who are you? _

This hadn't been the scenario Rey imagined during the hysperpace journey.

Rey, still clutching the lightsaber, followed after the Jedi Master and Chewbacca-his growls echoing in the ship-through the Falcon's passages, gunners, and cockpit. And in the crowded cockpit, with the smell of old wires and tarnished metal, Luke Skywalker froze. He said nothing, only looked at the empty pilot's seat with his bright blue eyes, which were shiny.

Rey then realized: Luke Skywalker knew Han Solo was gone.

Of course he did. Jedi Masters could sense things, couldn't they? He probably knew exactly when it had happened, too. Maybe even how it had happened. Rey quickly excused herself from the Falcon, not wanting to be a part of this moment. Thinking about Han Solo felt like someone was grabbing her inside and and twisting until she couldn't breathe. Her eyes stung, and she was dangerously close to crying.

Rey sat on the stony steps, swallowing. Well. She might be a nobody from nowhere, but she wouldn't let the legendary Jedi Master see her weakness. She quickly wiped her eyes, and consciously did not think of Han Solo for a long time.

Rey didn't think of Han Solo long enough to compose herself, and she was certain her eyes weren't red by the time Luke Skywalker-in the light of the binary sunset-exited the Falcon.

"Hey," he said. "You all right?"

"Of course," said Rey, quickly standing and silently cursing herself for rubbing her eyes too hard.

But the Jedi Master only nodded, seeming to take her at her word, and looked out into the sunset. Rey followed his gaze, taken by the beauty of it. The sunlight glinted off the billowing clouds-something Rey had never seen before-trimming them with brilliant gold. Purples and reds painted the sky in soft streaks. Above it, in the darkening sky, five or six-no, seven-moons, all at different phases, cast a soft glow. Each one was a different size and pastel. One even had stripes. The largest was a silver crescent that arched over them.

Rey, who had been used to Jakku's two-and rather small-moons, could have marveled at this for hours. The Jedi Master was smiling at her.

"Are you hungry?" he said.

Rey blinked. Was he inviting her to actually eat food with him. With a Jedi Master? She nodded.

"Great," said the Jedi Master, who motioned them to follow him up the steps. "Me too. Oh-" He stopped abruptly, and nodded to the Falcon. "You'll probably want to move that to higher ground first."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Ahch-To food was salty and wet. And spongy, like the grass Rey had squashed in when she walked on the island. Rey and R2 had followed the Jedi Master back up the endless stairs and over grass with a _squesh squesh_, to the very top of the mountain. Here was where Luke Skywalker lived.

It wasn't anything Rey could have imagined a Jedi Master living in. It was small, uncomfortable, and cave-like. The arched ceiling was so low Rey had to stoop at times. Perhaps that's why Chewbacca remained outside, with the Falcon. The Wookiee apparently didn't enjoy cramped spaces.

All three of them-Luke Skywalker, Rey, and R2-D2 gathered around a heat module that was also a source of light, casting shadows all throughout the stone dwelling and against the heavy fabric door. Nets of packed with gear, old equipment, cargo boxes, and other accouterments, were tied across the arched ceiling like hammocks. Rey spotted an old, battered X-wing helmet nestled among them. The dwelling overall smelled dank and waterlogged.

But notwithstanding, it was warm and bright and mostly dry inside the cave, and Rey couldn't help but feel a little cheery, seeing the optimism of the Jedi Master as the light cast warmth over his face. He listened to R2-D2's _boops_ and _beeps_, and laughed over what the droid had to say. His laugh echoed to the stone ceiling. Rey smiled, too.

The Jedi Master was different than she had expected. Very different. Rey _liked_ him. Of course she did, he was friendly and kind. He was different that what she'd expected...but what _had_ she expected? An angry hermit? Of _course_ Luke Skywalker wouldn't be that way. Not the Jedi Master in all the stories.

"Really? You do?" said Luke, who had been speaking to the droid. He turned to Rey. "Artoo says he has a transmission for me."

"Oh," said Rey, surprised. She hadn't known that.

"Let's see it, Artoo," Luke urged.

The astromech droid obliged, rolling forward a few feet, and giving a _beep_. A projection flickered forth from the droid's dome, and in pale white colors, a miniature General Leia Organa appeared, as though standing on top of the the heat module. Rey's throat grew tight, remembering how tightly Leia had hugged her after Han Solo was gone. No one had embraced her like that before.

The flickering miniature of Leia Organa was proud, her chin up and hair coiled on top of her head, her hands clasped together. Rey watched, transfixed, as the hologram spoke.

"Master Skywalker," Leia Organa began. Then, amending with a small smile, "Luke." The General continued: "I'm so grateful we have managed to find you at last. Forgive us for taking so long. Forgive _me_."

"Oh, Leia," said Luke softly. His eyes were shiny.

"I wish I had better news to bring you," Leia continued. "While the Resistance _did _destroy the First Order's massive weapon, the Starkiller, we are still hopelessly outnumbered. We won the battle, but they are winning the war, and the First Order, even now, is beating us back. As we speak, the galaxy is falling to their mercy. We are, once again, an Empire and a Rebellion."

Leia's voice broke.

"There is nothing more the Rebellion can do. I've given orders to our Rebellion fighters: Disperse to our own home planets and cities, and find allies to our cause. I dare not ask them to fight. Not yet. Not until we have someone more powerful and wise than I to lead them against these dark forces."

The small hologram of Leia motioned with her hands, as though gesturing to someone out of sight.

"I realize grave circumstances have taken you from us, and have kept you hidden. That's why I've sent Chewbacca, Artoo, the Falcon, and one of our newest members of the Resistance, Rey. I know they will all be a great help to you, as many of them were all those years ago. I pray they can bring you back to lead the Rebellion as the one light among the growing darkness."

The hologram flickered as Leia gave one last plea:

"Please, Master Skywalker. You truly are...our only hope."

The projection ended, and Leia disappeared. Rey closed her eyes, still seeing the blue-white light of the image burned in her vision. She ached in the pit of her stomach, and it wasn't the Ahch-To food. General Organa had dissolved the Resistance. The Empire was overtaking the galaxy once more. What would happen to all the people Rey had just met? What about...about Finn? Rey could still feel his hand tucked her in hers, and his reassuring voice. They'd been through a lot together. Rey had to bring Luke Skywalker back to save..._everything_.

Rey opened her eyes again to see Luke Skywalker stroking his beard and still staring at where the miniature Leia had stood. He seemed deep in thought.

After a moment, Luke shook himself.

"Sorry," he said, as though coming to the present and realizing Rey and R2 were watching him. "It's just...memories."

Rey had memories too, vague, thin ones, like watery soup, but she hadn't left Jakku for nothing. She gripped the lightsaber she'd brought with her, and had kept at her side.

"We have the Falcon," she said, in a voice that made her sound braver than she felt. "We can take you back! We could leave _right now_. We _have_ to leave right now! You've got to stop the First Ord-the _Empire_!"

She brandished the Jedi weapon at Luke Skywalker.

The Jedi Master, once again, did not take it.

Rey kept the weapon held out to him long enough that her arm began to ache and she felt foolish.

"Lady Rey," Luke Skywalker said, at last.

Rey flushed at being called such a formal title.

"It's just Rey," she said, embarrassed.

"_Lady Rey_," the Jedi Master said again, with stubborn emphasis. "There is nothing I want more than to take that lightsaber, travel back with you and Chewie, and lead the Rebellion against these growing dark forces."

"Great!" said Rey. "Why don't you?"

Luke Skywalker's piercing blue eyes fixed on her.

"Because," he said. "_I can't_."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"What do you mean _you can't_?" said Rey, her face growing hot. "Of course you can! We found you! We have a ship! We can go _right now!_"

"I _can't_," Luke Skywalker emphasized, "because I don't know how to _fight_ Kylo Ren."

"What are you talking about?" said Rey, standing quickly and knocking her head on one of the hanging nets. She pushed away, and pointed the lightsaber at Luke Skywalker. "You don't know how to fight Kylo Ren? Isn't that what this is for?"

Luke stood quickly, silencing Rey.

"No," he said. "No. It is not."

He took a step to Rey's side, and-at last-took the lightsaber from her hands with calloused fingers. Rey shivered all over, seeing him hold the weapon at last.

Luke activated the lightsaber, and brittle blue light seared the small room. The blade was so sharp it cut the air, and the _Eeeeoooeeewrrr _sound echoed across the stone walls. Rey watched with fascination as he swept the weapon back and forth in smooth blurs, graceful as a dance. He handled it with an expertise Rey had not seen before. She'd seen Kylo Ren use a lightsaber, but it was graceless, hard, and angry. Harsh. This was...beautiful. Rey hardly breathed. R2-D2 made a wistful _boop._

"There are times to use a lightsaber," said the Jedi Master, deactivating the weapon so quickly it left a void, "and times when it is useless. This is one of those times."

Rey slowly sat down, still mesmerized by the lightsaber image. Luke sat down as well, and gently set the weapon down beside him.

"Kylo Ren has no skill with a lightsaber," he said quietly. "I trained him, you know. Or tried to. He didn't have the patience for the weapon. Or much else."

Luke clasped his hands together. Rey listened quietly as the Jedi Master spoke and the light seemed to dim and lengthen the shadows around them.

"I started training him when he was just a boy. He had a gift for sensing the Force, it...runs in the family," Luke said, apologetically. He smiled a little. "Ben was an eager student, very bright. And _extremely_ talented. But he refused to control his skill. He was a slave to his passions. His kyber crystal, for example. Ben _desperately_ wanted a lightsaber, but I knew he wasn't ready. He'd lose an eye. Or an arm. Try explaining _that _to your brother-in-law."

Luke gave a shrug. "So what did Ben do? He found an unrefined kyber crystal and forged his _own_ lightsaber."

"His red lightsaber?" said Rey. She had seen that weapon up close. Very up close.

Luke chuckled.

"You've seen it," he said.

"It's...ragged," said Rey. "And has other blades coming out from the sides."

"That's from the fractured kyber. A lot like him, I'd say. A lightsaber says a lot about a Jedi. Unrefined crystal, unrefined temper."

Luke grew quiet and clasped his hands even tighter. Rey had to lean forward to hear him.

"Ben grew impatient with me," Luke said. His face was lined. "With the Force, too. He began to look for new powers in dark places. I think that was when he found all his dark friends. And Snoke. It's partially my fault-I had a lot of students to train, and couldn't track Ben's every move. But I could see him falling into dark ways. His temper grew shorter. And his anger, deeper. I could _see_ the contempt in his eyes. He was falling prey to the dark side of the Force. Right under my watch."

"What did you do?" said Rey.

"What do you think I did?" said Luke. "I commed for his parents."

Luke stood and paced, ducking underneath the hanging nets of equipment.

"Something...happened when Han and Leia came," he said. "Ben-no, _Kylo Ren_-did something to us. He _reached into our minds_. I'm a master at Jedi mind tricks. But this was different. I actually _felt_ the Force reach into my head, sift through my memories, and _pull them away from me_."

Rey swallowed. That feeling. She had experienced that _exact _thing at the hands of Kylo Ren. She recalled the sensation of memories flipping through her mind and the wave of a sharp headache, like fingers burrowing into sand and grabbing hold. She shuddered.

"Kylo Ren destroyed many things that night," Luke continued. "The Jedi temple I trained him in. The Jedi order I had been forming-that was gone, too. My students had vanished. I don't even remember who they were. And...I...had a family, I _think_. But every memory I had of them is gone. Kylo Ren took the things written on my soul and destroyed them as easily as wiping a database from a droid."

In the dim light, Rey could see the immense pain and sadness in the lines on Luke's face.

"The night after we confronted Ben," he said, "shattered everything. Life after that was like looking into a broken mirror with missing pieces. I almost didn't even remember who I was. There was nothing left of the Jedi temple but a landscape of broken stone."

"He killed everyone!" said Rey, aghast.

"No," said Luke. "No, I don't believe he did. I honestly don't believe Ben would do that."

"_I_ do," said Rey darkly, thinking of Han Solo.

"He _did_ something, I will agree with you there. My search for...everything...turned up nothing. Of course, it's hard to search when you don't know what you're searching _for_. I couldn't even ask Han and Leia, who had been there that night, because Ben did something to them as well. He..._broke_ them. He took the memories from deep from inside them, and they-" Luke shook his head. "They regressed. Captain Han Solo, once the great leader of the Rebellion, turned back to his old life of smuggling. Leia, who had been studying the Force, buried herself into politics. Their marriage fell apart."

Luke sighed, and sat down again. "And Kylo Ren went to Snoke," he said simply.

"And you disappeared," said Rey. It wasn't an accusation, but she wasn't smiling when she said it.

The Jedi Master regarded her mildly.

"Yes," he said, but not unkindly. "I needed to find answers. After the Shattered Night-the night Ben became Kylo Ren-I needed answers. I needed to know how to fight Kylo Ren and this new power he had used against us. So. When a Jedi needs answers, there is usually only one place he can go: A Jedi temple."

Luke looked thoughtfully up into the ceiling of the arch dwelling. In the dim light, Rey noticed that on the ceiling and all across the walls were deep scratches that formed odd designs.

"There were once many Jedi temples," Luke continued, "but each one I found had fallen into disrepair. Most had been desecrated. Breeding grounds for smugglers and spies and Empire sympathizers. The Force was no longer in them. I needed to find a temple that hadn't been touched. One where the Force was still strong."

A realization struck Rey.

"Han Solo said you were looking for the first Jedi temple," she said eagerly. "Is that why you came here?"

Luke smiled.

"That's right," he said.

"The very first one? The one that-the ancient Jedi Masters made?"

Luke, still smiling, nodded.

"Did you find it?" said Rey.

Luke's bright blue eyes twinkled at her.

"I did," he said finally. "And you're sitting in it _right now._"


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

_You're sitting in it right now…_

Shivers ran through Rey. She quickly looked around her, seeing the small dwelling with new eyes. The scratches across the walls shimmered, and Rey realized it was actually intricate gold designs, in ancient script. They seemed to whisper. A Jedi temple. A place where the Force was so thick you could breathe it. The hairs on Rey's arms prickled.

Rey said the first thing that came to mind.

"It's...a really small temple."

R2-D2 gave a series of angry beeps and noises, apparently in agreement.

Luke Skywalker was laughing.

"All right, Artoo, calm down," he said, placing his hand on the droid's dome. The droid was still making a ruckus. "Calm down! Yes, I _know_ it shouldn't have taken me this long to find answers. I know, I know. Yes, thirteen years is a long time. Can you let me talk a minute? I'll explain, I promise."

The droid finished with a short _mmrpp_.

"_This_," said Luke patiently, "is only the very top of the temple. The entrance of the temple."

Rey searched the small room for stairs. There were none. There was a small cot with crumpled bedding, a pile of old equipment, and beside that, at the back of the room, stood a very large basin full of water, the sort you'd wash up in. It was larger than the bed, actually. It might have even been considered a pool.

"The _entire island_ is the temple," Luke was explaining. "That includes all the rock beneath sea level, as well. I estimate there are-oh-twelve levels, at least. That's my guess. I've been able to get down to the fourth. Before the tide comes in."

"Tide?" said Rey.

"Right. Right now we're at high-high tide. I have to wait for a lower tide for the pool to drain-" Luke motioned to the pool at the back of the room, "-to access the next level. Low-low tide can get us to the third level down."

Rey looked at him blankly.

"Tide?" she said again.

Luke examined Rey for a long moment. At last he said:

"Where are you from, Lady Rey?"

"Jakku," Rey muttered, a little embarrassed.

Master Luke gave a slow nod, then got to his feet. He walked past Rey and the droid, and stepped outside the entrance. He held the flap open for R2-D2 and Rey to follow.

"I'm from Tatooine," he said to her, not unkindly. "It's something I learned as well. Tides don't happen in sand."

Outside, at the top of the mountain-or was it a temple?-the Falcon stood, perched just by the top stair, rimmed pale colors in the moonlight. Chewbacca stood beside the boarding ramp, and he growled happily as they exited from Luke's home, and Rey gave him a quick hug.

Even though it was night, the moonlight cast a mesh of silver-pink-and-orange light. Rey saw she had multiple shadows, all pale and criss-crossing each other. She looked up at the sky over them, marveling at the orbs against the stars. One was orbiting so quickly she could actually _see_ it moving. Rey could stare at this forever. R2-D2 gave a long, wistful _beep_. The sea stretched before them, an expanse of black glass, studded with the reflections of the numerous moons.

Luke Skywalker stood beside Rey, looking upward.

"They're beautiful," Rey breathed, following his gaze.

"They'll do," Luke agreed. He nodded at the fast-moving moon. "That one's Vel. Fast little devil. Five or six orbits in one night. And the striped one, Nida-Ha. That one, Wera, Rom, Rom II, BekaBek, Jou…"

Luke pointed out each moon with the alacrity of someone who had studied them for thirteen years. He named the moons they couldn't see, beneath the horizon, and he spoke about tides. Rey sat on the boarding ramp of the Falcon and pulled her knees to her chest, looking up at the sky as Luke spoke, and feeling both wistful and small. She felt like Jakku had stunted her knowledge of the universe.

Tides. The Jedi Master explained them patiently as they looked out in the seascape. Tides were what happened when a planet had water and any kind of moon. The gravity of the moon pulled the water away from the shore, and then sometimes brought the water higher. This was called _high tide,_ or _low tide._

Ahch-To, Luke explained, had a _lot_ of moons, which-depending on how close or how large they were-wreaked havoc with the tides. There was high-high tide, and low-low tide, and when several the moons aligned (which happened once every two years or so), low-low-_low_ tide, or high-high-high tide, in which the Jedi Master's home flooded and he had to set everything out to dry again and-Rey surmised from his tone of voice-that was annoying.

But at low-low-low tide...that's when Luke was able to reach the lower levels of the Jedi temple.

"Because of all the moons," Luke explained, "the tides are unpredictable. That's why I had you move the Falcon to higher ground. The _last _thing we needed was for all of us to get stranded. The tides come in fast, and wash out fast. Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way...when the tide washed away my X-Wing."

Guffaws filled the air as Chewbacca lifted his head upward.

Rey blinked. The wookiee was laughing. Laughing! At Luke! His laughter echoed across the cliffs.

"Ha-ha," said Luke, not amused at all. "That's right, it's very funny. Ha-ha. Watching my X-Wing float away off in the distance."

The Wookiee laughed even harder. The Jedi Master folded his arms and frowned at Chewbacca. R2-D2 began chirping along. Rey had to cover her mouth. Their laughter was infectious.

A smile tugged at Luke's lips.

"All right, all right," he admitted above the Wookie laughter. "It's a _little_ funny _now_. Trust me, it wasn't funny then. Or the year after. Or the year after that. Or _all _the years after that."

The Wookie gave a jovial growl and pulled Luke into a big hug. Luke broke a smile. Rey was grinning, too. She looked up at the sky, the little moon Vel now almost to the horizon, and Luke followed her gaze.

"The Jedi Masters," he said, now in a quieter voice, "built this temple here on purpose. They meant it to be hidden by the tides."

Rey looked at him, confused. "Why?" she asked.

"Because temples are sacred. The Force is strong within them, and Jedi often have powerful spiritual experiences. They're not meant for just anyone."

Rey nodded slowly, feeling that same prickly feeling on her arms and the back of her neck. Jedi temples. Spiritual experiences. What did he mean by that? _I have so much to learn,_ Rey thought.

"The deeper I go inside the temple," Luke said quietly, "the more answers I get, and the more sacred it feels. The more I'm one with the Force. It's-not something I can really explain. But I know that when I reach the lowest level, I'll finally know what I've lost, and know how to defeat Kylo Ren."

Rey rubbed her arms, and shivered.

"How will you get to that level?" she asked. "Can't you...use the Force to push all the water out of the way? The Force can push things, can't it?"

Luke gave a half-nod of assent. "You can. And I did. Water's difficult, you can't just push it away. It keeps coming. I'd focus so much on _not_ drowning that I couldn't connect with the Force for anything else. After my fifth time nearly drowning...I decided to trust the ancient wisdom of the builders. Wait on the timing of the tides."

"So you have to wait for the low tide."

"Yes. The lowest Ahch-To can get. It only happens once every seventy years."

"Seventy years!" said Rey. R2-D2 gave an incredulous short _beep_.

Luke laughed.

"See for yourself, Artoo," he said. "Access the Ahch-To moon orbits."

The droid gave a _mrrp_, twisted its dome, beeped, and a bevy of blue-white orbs flickered from R2's holoprojector. The miniature Ahch-To moons circled around the large Ahch-To image, and Rey watched, fascinated.

"The twelve Ahch-To moons often cross paths," Luke explained, as the holo diagram zoomed in closer to the moons. "That can cause the very high or very low tides, because the moons' gravity is pulling together. But once every seventy years, all the moons align."

The moons in R2's hologram lined up, all at the same crescent. R2-D2 beeped.

"That's right, Artoo. That's when we'll have the lowest tide. It will pull the water entirely away from the temple for half a day. That should give me enough time to reach the lowest level. And then get back up when the tide comes in. It will be the highest tide...and will probably bury the entire island."

Rey let this all sink in. They would have to wait until lowest tide before Luke could go into the temple, learn what he needed to know, and finally come back with them. _How many years would that be? _Rey thought frantically.

"None," said Luke, as though reading her thoughts. A small smile on was on his lips. "You came at a good time. It's starting tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Rey couldn't remember her family. Not really. She _knew_ she had one, but the memories of them were like whiffs of incense on the air. They had no form or substance, and were fleeting. But Rey _knew_ she had one, because she remembered how much it hurt when they were gone.

She'd spent a lifetime on Jakku under the burning sun, picking through the over-picked bones of star destroyers, scraping out a living under Unkar's "care", desperately hoping they would come for her. That's what families _did_, wasn't it? They wouldn't just abandon her, would they? Families didn't _do _that.

Under the criss-crossing pastel light of Ahch-To's moons, Rey hugged her knees to her chest, deep in thought. She hardly heard Luke Skywalker speaking on about tides or moon orbits. His voice seemed distant to her. Beginning tomorrow, he explained, the tides would extremely erratic. Each day the tide would get lower, allowing him to enter the deeper levels of the temple. At times, the temple would quickly fill again with a higher tide. By the fifth day, however, the tide would reach its lowest level, and at last the Jedi Master would get the answers he needed.

R2-D2's holoprojector seemed to juggle moons and various speeds.

Rey was silent, still deep in thought. _If Luke Skywalker can remember his family by going in the Jedi Temple,_ she thought, _then I could too…_

"There's a mural in the second level of the temple that explains all these tides," said the Jedi Master, finishing up. "The ancient Jedi really _did _build it for just one use in seventy years. Not a problem if you're a Jedi who lives to be nine hundred years old, like Yoda." Luke chuckled.

Rey tried to sound as casual as possible when she said: "You'll probably need help tomorrow. In the temple. I could come with you, hold the light, that kind of thing."

R2-D2's holoprojector shut down sharply, drenching them in darkness, and Chewbacca, the Jedi Master, and even the droid, turned to look at her. His blue eyes seemed to see right through her.

Rey felt a blush rise up her cheeks. She bit it back.

"Well, why not?" she said, defensively. "It sounds like there's a lot of unpredictable tides. It's not safe with just one person."

Luke Skywalker spoke cautiously, as though testing the ground to see if it was quicksand.

"I think..._normally_ that would be a wise decision," he admitted. "But not for a Jedi temple."

"Really?" said Rey, her face hot. "Why not?"

"Well," said Luke, "it's a _Jedi_ temple. For those who are Jedi, or are at least training to be a Jedi. They know how to handle stuff like Force visions. Anyone who isn't ready won't...do...as well…"

He trailed off. Rey had gotten to her feet, probably a little too quickly.

"I'm ready," she said sharply. "I've _felt _the Force. I felt it guide me the first time I piloted the Falcon!"

"Lady Rey-"

"And-and on the Starkiller Base!" Rey hurried on. "I _fought_ Kylo Ren with your lightsaber! I _know_ the Force helped me then! I _can_ be One with the Force!"

Rey ended breathlessly.

Behind her, R2-D2 gave a long, slow whistle. The Jedi Master in front of her stood unmoving, arms crossed, his face expressionless. He glanced at her fists, which were clenched.

Rey tried to unclench them without Luke noticing.

"You are not trained, Lady Rey," said Luke Skywalker.

"Well, that's true," Rey shot back, "but who would train me?"

"Even if you were-it takes _time_. It takes years for a Jedi to become prepared enough to-"

"How can what happens in there," Rey cut him off, motioning to the stony peak of the temple, "we worse than everything I've already been through? _I can do this! _Didn't General Organa say in her transmission that I would be a help to you? Would she have sent me here if she didn't think I _could_?"

Luke unfolded his arms, clenched his eyes shut and rubbed his brow. Mentioning General Organa, apparently, had an effect on him. After a moment, the Jedi Master fixed his bright blue eyes on Rey. A smile tugged on his lips.

"Well," he said. "You _are_ answering me in questions. That's a very _Jedi _thing to do."

Rey blinked, her flaring temper fading to hope.

"All right, Lady Rey," said Luke, pulling his hood over his head. "Meet at the temple entrance at dawn, when the waters start receding." He gave a shrug. "You can hold the light."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Rey couldn't sleep that night. She tossed around in her bunk on the Falcon, then gave up, left the ship, and ran a few laps around the squashy grass of the island. She practiced maneuvers with her quarterstaff, and she found a handy light in the Falcon that strapped to her wrist and had a couple of replaceable diatium fuel cells. By the time the stars began to fade, the water around the island had ebbed lower, revealing algae-soaked parts of the island and leaving a sort of wet-rot smell.

Rey was at Luke's door, light on her wrist, quarterstaff slung on her back, when the Jedi Master threw back the flap and gave her a short nod. He was dressed in the full Jedi regalia she'd first met him in-except now he wore the lightsaber at his belt. Rey found that somewhat satisfying.

She followed the Jedi Master into his dwelling, and noticed that the pool at the back was no longer a pool. The water had receded to reveal a staircase leading down through a low archway.

Luke Skywalker gave Rey R2-D2's comm link. Rey blinked at it.

"Just in case," Luke said.

Rey wondered what _in case_ would happen. But she said nothing. The Jedi Master seemed in a solemn mood, and Rey could feel why. The temple had _presence_. It seemed to eek from the walls.

Luke began down the narrow set of stairs, and Rey followed him, ducking under the pool archway and into darkness so thick Rey could _feel _it. Her light shone enough in the velvet blackness to illuminate the steps before them, but Luke didn't seem to need it. He had obviously been here before.

"Why do you want to enter the Jedi temple, Lady Rey?" said Luke, breaking the silence as they descended.

Rey hesitated. There was no way she would tell the Jedi Master about her lost family. Instead she said, simply:

"I can't bring you back to General Organa if you're dead."

It wasn't a _lie_, but it wasn't the whole truth. Luke paused on the stairs, and turned around, looking at her with his piercing blue eyes. Rey swallowed.

_He knows I'm not telling him everything_, she thought. Of course he did. Her explanation was ridiculous on its face. The great Luke Skywalker, who had redeemed Darth Vader, refused ownership of the Galaxy, and defeated the Empire...did not need help.

Still, under his gaze, Rey kept her face completely serious.

"Well, Lady Rey," said Luke Skywalker after a moment. "Thanks."

They continued down the stairs, which were endless. There was no railing to grip onto, and the stairs were slick. Rey didn't know how deep the chasm was on either side of her, but her footfalls echoed cavernously, and water lapped somewhere below. At times, Rey's light caught streaks of glimmers in the darkness.

It was cold, and Rey began to shake. Or perhaps it was from her anxiety and anticipation. Either way, the Jedi Master noticed, and shrugged off his Jedi robe, offering it to her.

Rey shook her head, refusing. The _last _thing she needed was the Jedi Master to think she was weak and not ready for this. Luke Skywalker shrugged and slung the robe over his arm. And so, the light that lit the stairway in front of them and touched the streaks all around them trembled.

And then; dawn.

It came like a soft wind. One moment Rey was peering into the darkness, and the next moment, her eyes had adjusted and saw the world around her in blues and purples. Rey froze. What she had thought was an old stone cavern was, indeed, old and stone and cavernous, but nothing like she expected. A vast hall lay before them, carved pillars along the walls and tall windows in between. Like the dwelling above, gold in great swirling designs and old aurebesh was inlaid all throughout the stone, and even across the floor, visible underneath several inches of quickly-draining water. _Unlike_ the dwelling above, a shimmering network of orbs and golden strands criss-crossed and connected in a brilliant reticulum above them.

The sun dawned through the first tall window, sending shards of light dancing across the great cavern. Rey realized she was holding her breath.

Luke Skywalker a few stairs ahead of her, gave a sideways smile. It was a smile that said he had seen this before, but had never gotten tired of it.

Master Skywalker had been right; the water _did_ drain quickly. There was only an inch or so when they reached the floor. And now, Rey recognized what the orbs and swirling inlays were: diagrams of the moons and their orbits around Ahch-To. The shadows the sun cast over the walls marked their place in the sky and the correlating tides. So, Rey realized, that was how Master Skywalker knew about the moons, their orbits, and the 70-year lowest tide. He'd studied it over the past thirteen years.

Rey would have liked to stay longer in the room of orbs and diagrams, but Master Skywalker strode on, water splashing at his feet. Rey hurried after. They didn't have much time, it seemed. Rey's boots were completely soaked by the time they reached the end of the vast hall and followed the water cascading down another staircase like a waterfall.

By now, the light at Rey's wrist was completely useless. The sun rays through the carved skylights above them lit everything with a grey-white sheen. Rey fumbled with the light at her wrist, switched it off, and when she looked up…

The temple had changed. Instead of the waterfall staircase she'd been descending, grains of _sand_ poured down past her feet, and stretched before her in an expanse of golden swirls and white-blue sky.

Luke Skywalker, who had been just a few steps ahead of her, had disappeared.

"Master Skywalker?" said Rey, frozen on the steps.

Only the soft _ffffff_ of sand pouring past her feet could be heard. Rey looked upward. The grey of the temple's stone ceiling was gone, replaced by blue, searing sky as far as she could see.

_I'm having a Force vision_, Rey thought, hairs on her neck pricking. It had to be. There was no way this was part of the Ahch-To temple. Rey took a tentative step down, her boots now sand-blown dry, then carefully descended into the sand, which swept past her knees, whipping past and ebbing away an inch a minute. In the distance, star destroyers jutted up from the landscape.

This was Jakku. Rey knew it anywhere. The smell of the sun beating against the metal plates of old ships. How dry her mouth was. The burn of sun on her face. She knew it _very_ well.

_Why would I have a Force vision about-_\- And in the middle of this thought, Rey's thoughts interrupted with _another _thought: Years ago, her family had left her on Jakku. This was Jakku. And Force knew Rey needed answers.

She was going to find out, at last, who her family was.

Excited, Rey took hurried forward, slogging through the sweeping sand, now to her ankles. She pulled her quarterstaff off her back, searching furiously for...something. Anything! Any clue or memory or-

Two TIE fighters screamed by overhead. They dipped close to horizon and did an about-turn, _coming directly for her_.

"TIE fighters_?_" said Rey, backing away. This wasn't a part of her distant memory. She turned sharply and _ran _as the sand exploded in a line beside her from their blasters.

"We can't outrun them!" a desperate voice called from behind her.

Rey knew that voice! It was Finn! Her heart felt as though it leapt into her throat at the sound of it, and she nearly stumbled as she ran, turning to see him. She had missed him! He was running too, his face shiny with sweat, and wearing a Resistance pilot's jacket. Behind him, BB-8 squealed and rolled over the sand, rushing to keep up with them. The TIE fighters did another turn on the horizon and zoomed forward.

This-this Force vision was from Rey's memory! She had _lived_ this before, and knew every bit of it. The taste of smoke-studded sand from the blaster fire, the panic rising in her throat as the TIE fighters screamed closer.

"We might!" Rey called back to Finn, now an active participant of her memory, due to helpless panic. Still running, she pointed ahead to the only escape she saw. "In that Quad-Jumper!"

The TIE fighter blasted an old ship behind them, and it exploded into a ball of flames, the sound pushing them forward. Rey could _feel _the heat licking her as they ran, kicking up the sand.

"We need a pilot!" Finn yelled.

"You have one," a voice prompted Rey, and immediately, without breaking her stride, Rey said: "We've got one!"

Which was an odd thing to say-Rey had flown a total of three ships in her life, and they were all the junked broken-down ships Unkar needed moved to another part of the graveyard. _That_ hadn't been much different than flying a speeder. She had studied the cockpits of the ships among the metal carcasses, but that was a far cry from actually _flying_ a ship under fire.

But even so, it felt like the exact right thing to say.

"_You_?" Finn cried aloud as another blast of sand rained behind them. "What about that ship?"

Rey somehow knew which ship he was pointing to: the old sun-baked Falcon.

"That one's garbage!" Rey cried.

_This is surreal, I've said that exact same line_\- Rey thought, still running for her life.

The Quad Jumper a length away exploded into a ball of smoke and flame as the fighters zoomed overhead. Shrapnel and hot bits of sand rained over the three of them. Rey pulled up short.

"The garbage'll do!" she said, and in a moment both she, Finn, and BB-8 were racing to the Millenium Falcon.

Sand exploded behind them as they raced up the Falcon's boarding ramp.

"Gunner's position is down there!" said Rey, motioning down the hall of the Falcon. She _did_ know the basic layout of the ship-her explorations of the ships here had taken care of that-and she raced to the front of the ship.

It was sweltering hot inside the cockpit. Rey's fingers touched a switch, and it burned her.

"You ever fly this thing?" Finn called.

"No!" Rey called back, taking the pilot's seat. "This ship hasn't flown in years!"

Rey stared at the numerous buttons and dials of the control panel. Right. Right. "I can do this, I can do this," she muttered to herself. And, in fact, she _did_ know she could do this, she had done it before in real life, hadn't she?

And yet, she stared at the dials, her memory fleeing. Why in the world did she say she was a pilot? She couldn't fly an _actual _ship like this! She knew _small_, familiar things like speeders! The control panel buttons in her vision warped and throbbed. TIE fighters screamed overhead as they rounded the Falcon, blasting at it. Sand blinded the glass of the transparisteel window. Rey floundered among all the buttons and levers.

"Engine start levers," came a voice behind Rey, and she knew it immediately.

It was the Jedi Master. Rey turned sharply to see Master Luke Skywalker taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair. Blaster sounded behind them, shaking the ship. "Further up the control panel. You've got it," he said.

Without a second thought, Rey took the black-knobbed levers by the window-which _burned_-and yanked them.

The engines fired to life, and the ship jolted. Rey was thrown back into the searing pilot's chair.

Rey randomly pressed buttons, hoping something would work. It _almost _worked. The Falcon shuddered and lifted, shaking off bits of metal, years-long sand, and a threadbare tarp...then smashed into the ground again, side-first.

Rey cried aloud, thrown almost out of the chair. Finn's yell came from the gunner's position. The Falcon scraped forward, slamming into an old ship. Scavengers below them ran out of the way as the Falcon canted and barrelled on through the Niimu outpost. Rey caught a glimpse of Unkar Plutt shaking his fist at the ship. The numerous buttons and levers around her swam in her vision.

"Grab the control yoke and the throttle," said Luke Skywalker among the chaos, reaching over to guide Rey and placing her hands on the shaped levers. "Those two. Good. _You can do this_. I can help you fly this ship, Lady Rey," he added. "But I can only help if you're listening to the Force."

_The Force_. Rey made an effort to focus. Blaster fire shook the Falcon.

Luke Skywalker gripped her hands over the levers, and pushed them forward. The Falcon shuddered and began picking up altitude again in a forward trajectory. Rey swallowed and followed his lead on the controls, allowing him to push them forward. The Falcon dodged the oncoming TIE fighters and accelerated forward and up, above the blinding explosions of sand, and streaked into the sky.

"Stay low, stay low!" Finn called from the gunner's position.

"What?" said Rey, confused and panicked.

"Stay low! It confuses their tracking!"

Luke Skywalker rolled his eyes, but pushed the control yoke forward and punched the accelerator. The Falcon streaked upward and _upside-down_, veering back toward the earth under the Jedi Master's expert guidance.

And everything happened just as Rey had remembered it. Accelerating into the TIE fighters, their blaster fire blurring past in green lines. Skimming the sand so close it sent clouds of dust in a long wake behind them. Stretching to raise the shields, which Luke Skywalker helped her find. He placed his hands over hers, his face lined with concentration, as he helped her fly the ship with dextrous speed through the fallen star destroyers.

They really did go _through_. Down into the carcass of the massive ship, dodging inner the machinery that Rey had spent her life harvesting. Each move Luke Skywalker guided her through was an inch from death. Rey felt both panicked and thrilled. She did have moments-moments where she _almost_ allowed herself to get cocky and consider the idea that she _did _know how to fly a ship like this and dodge TIE fighers and she _was_ getting pretty good at it...and immediately the Falcon would clip a sand-buried ship, or nosedive as the engine stopped.

"Listen to the Force, Rey!" Luke Skywalker urged.

Rey swallowed and tried to focus, allowing Luke to guide her hands back to the upper levers, starting the engines up again, and punching forward into the blistering blue sky.

It faded into star-studded black as the ship broke through the atmosphere, leaving the reds and oranges of Jakku behind.

Rey closed her eyes for a moment, allowing her heart to slow down. Her ears were ringing.

The memory of her escape-and now the Force vision of it-stung in her eyes like the bright sun. Everything had happened just as she remembered it. Except Luke Skywalker. He hadn't been there when it had actually happened.

Or had he?

The ship jolted to a halt. Rey was nearly thrown out of her chair.

Luke was no longer in the cockpit, and Rey was alone. Grasping the edge of the panel for balance, Rey peered out the transparisteel window-no longer studded with stars-confused. The Falcon, which had which had been accelerating into into the inky blackness of space, was now grounded on the inky blackness of another planet.

"Master Skywalker?" said Rey.

She looked out the cockpit window again, her eyes slowly adjusting.

In the darkness, the dim outline of branchless trees formed against the cold blue of snow. Flakes flicked past the glass of the Falcon window. The cockpit's internal temperature was dropping, Rey began to shiver.

Another memory. Rey knew this place.

The Starkiller Base.


End file.
